Mapping Our World
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Stained Glass Map
Learning Extension Ideas
Preschool (ages 2-4)
Grab an apple and compare it to a globe, like Shannon did in the video. For the youngest child, you may want to just talk about how the earth is a sphere. For an older child, cut the apple in half and show the apple ‘hemispheres’. Try drawing circles on paper that represent both parts of your apple.
Draw a country map on your driveway or sidewalk using chalk. Move through the map with your child, talking about it as you go. (ex. draw a USA map - let’s hop from North Carolina to Michigan. Now we’re going to color the state of Texas red)
Continent play dough mats / coloring sheets
DIY continent study boxes (rec for ages 4+)
For more ideas search #kidlabmaps on Instagram
Elementary (ages 5-10)
SCIENCE
Use a compass (or a compass app) to determine true north. Ask mom or dad to hide a treasure in your backyard and to give you compass directions on how to find it. Ex. go a bit more to the east; you’re going south but you need to be going north!
TECHNOLOGY + ENGINEERING
Use Google Earth or Google Maps to take virtual field trips to famous world landmarks: visit the Eiffel Tower or walk the Appalachian Trail!
Design and build a mini hot air balloon that could give you an aerial perspective of your region. How could this kind of aircraft be useful for collecting data?
MATH
In the video, Shannon explained that our world is a sphere. Can you name other 3D shapes? Review 2D and 3D shapes with shape-sort games
For additional mapping resources, we recommend National Geographic’s Map Skills